


Reassurance

by sciencebutch



Series: Lycanthrope AU [2]
Category: Marvel, The Incredible Hulk (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, F/M, Fluff, bruce is self conscious :(, bruce is the same as he is in Lack of Color but this time it's bretty babie!, they are so ... soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-18 04:04:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18242018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sciencebutch/pseuds/sciencebutch
Summary: Betty is oddly fascinated by his ears.Bruce doesn't know why.





	Reassurance

**Author's Note:**

> this is jus a couple little somethins i wrote for the [hulkfam discord](https://discord.gg/hbWb7we)

Betty is oddly fascinated by his ears.

Bruce doesn’t know why. He hates them, how pointy and inhuman they are, how they swivel at any hint of noise, how they perk up when he’s excited or happy and droop when he’s disappointed or sad. So he grew his hair out to hide them behind messy and tangled cascades of curls, and wears a hat when his hair fails at concealing them properly. Betty always tsks when she sees him trying to hide them though, always reaching out to tuck a lock of hair behind his ears, leaving them on full display. 

She’s also taken to scratching them when they’re lying down together in bed. It feels  _ amazing _ , and he can never prevent the low growl - almost a purr - that escapes his throat, or the way one of his legs would shake reflexively almost like...like…

Well, like a dog.

After a while of that, Betty would chuckle softly, shuffle around in bed so she could kiss his forehead, and then turn around and fall asleep. And Bruce would lay awake, confused, staring up at the ceiling, trying to parse their relationship. The whole thing confused him, and he couldn’t wrap his head around it. If Bruce didn’t know better it almost seemed like she didn’t mind his more canid features. 

Hell, maybe she even  _ liked _ them. He certainly didn’t understand  _ that _ . Why would she like the things that made him a monster?

 

Bruce asked Betty about it the next day while they were cuddling on the couch. His head was in the crook of her shoulder, his breath hot against her skin. Betty had one hand around him, and the other was scratching behind his ears. 

“Why do you do that?” he said, his voice muffled. He didn’t move to speak, and he didn’t really want to either; it felt too good.

“Do what?” Betty asked.

“That...that thing,” he waved his hands in a vague gesture, “that thing with my ears.”

He could kind of feel Betty’s head shift to look down at him. Bruce didn’t move to look up at her; he was too embarrassed to meet her eyes.

“Oh, you mean this?” her voice was mischievous as she picked up her (he refused to say petting) with a renewed fervor.

He hums involuntarily. “Yes,” he pauses, sits up and bats her hand away gently. “Stop that.”

“Do you not like it?” she cocks her head, eyes wide and innocent.

“No,” he responds, “I  _ do _ , it’s just…”

“Just…?” she prompted.

“I don’t understand,” he says, eyes wide and confused and vulnerable.

Betty sits up then, her demeanor turning serious. “Oh, Bruce,” she breathes, reaching her hand back up to his ears. He almost lets her, because he could really use the comfort and reassurance right now, but -

“Don’t. Don’t. Do that. Why do you do that?” it’s almost a plead, spoken with some degree of desperation.

“Because it’s cute,” she says simply and plainly. There’s no doubt she’s lying. And that’s the last thing he expected her to say.

“Cute,” he deadpans.

“Adorable,” she croons in jest. Bruce scrunches his eyebrows, trying to understand.

“You think my teeth and my nails and...and my ears are  _ cute _ ?” Bruce had thought she loved him in spite of his more animalistic characteristics, but…

“Yes. They’re a part of you, Bruce. Everything about you is cute,” her smile is soft and reassuring. 

Bruce gapes and tries to absorb this new piece of information. He sighs, then turns petulantly away from her and pouts. “I’m not cute,” he states, “I’m  _ handsome _ .”

Betty hums appreciatively. “You can be both,” she wraps her arms around him.

A few moments pass.

“Hey, Betty,” he hesitates, “can you...do the...the ear thing?”

Betty beams, leans down to kiss him, and obliges.

  
  
  


“When are you two gonna get a pet?” Rick was over. Rick was always over, it seemed. “You know, to complete the picture of domestic bliss--white picket fence and all that jazz?”

Bruce had made tea, but it remained untouched by Rick’s hands, still steaming and hot. Rick usually just brought over his own beer and drank that instead, because he was a heathen who couldn’t appreciate a good cup of tea. Or any liquid, for that matter, besides beer and soda. Bruce doesn’t think he’s ever seen Rick drink water.

Bruce sees Betty frown in mock confusion next to him at the table. “Rick, we already have a pet,” Bruce rolls his eyes, seeing where this is going, and he lets his head fall onto the table. His forehead makes a loud  _ clunk _ as it connects with the wood.

Betty’s hands find his sides and start tickling him. “...and he’s just the sweetest wittle puppy, yes he is!” 

Bruce tries to remain stoic for as long as he can. It’s not very long. “S-stop it!  _ Bet-Betty! _ ” 

“This is sweet,” Rick comments matter-of-factly from across the table. Bruce had forgotten he was there. “I think I threw up a little inside my mouth.”

Bruce regains his composure, but he’s still breathing hard and his cheeks are flushed from laughing. “See what I have to put up with?” he says to Rick.

Betty cards her fingers through his hair and kisses his cheek. “Aw...come on; I know you love me,” she smiles.

Bruce kisses her. “Yes,” he says seriously, “I do.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> follow me on follow me on tumblr!


End file.
